Sports
Through all of the injuries, how do the Bucs and Baker Mayfield continue to churn out wins?
TAMPA, Fla. — Quarterback Baker Mayfield may have looked like he was trying to carry the hopes of a very depleted Tampa Bay Buccaneers ball club when making his epic 15-yard scramble on third-and-14 in Week 6 in their 30-19 victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
Just moments before that play, it was announced that rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka — his top target this season — was doubtful to return with a hamstring injury, leaving him now without the team’s top four receivers — with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin Jr. and Jalen McMillan all out because of injury.
But when asked in his postgame news conference if he felt like he was shouldering more of the load in that moment, he said, “No,” and instead used it as a chance to build up the guys who stepped up — such as rookie receiver Tez Johnson and second-year receiver Kameron Johnson, who both caught their first career touchdowns in that game.
“I truly, genuinely trust the guys that are in there,” Mayfield said. “They’re ready. Guys are on the same page and that’s real. I trust these guys, even though some of them might not have played a whole lot of ball.”
One look in Mayfield’s eyes, and you can tell he’s sincere in his belief. And then there’s a guy such as Sterling Shepard — Mayfield’s former teammate at Oklahoma, who thought his career was over last year before Mayfield lured him from “daddy drop-off duty” to becoming one of Mayfield’s most dependable weapons this season. He showed that when he caught the game-tying touchdown in a Week 5 last-minute win over the Seattle Seahawks.
Now, the Bucs (5-1) hit the road to take on the Detroit Lions (4-2) on “Monday Night Football” (7 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN), where Mayfield will once again try to help lead an injury-ravaged team. In short, they will be without Godwin (fibula) and McMillan (neck), and they also will be without standout second-year running back Bucky Irving (shoulder/foot).
There is some reason for optimism though, with Evans likely to play, while Egbuka “has a real chance” to be on the field, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
“Our team, I believe in it,” Mayfield said. “I said it from training camp — I like the young guys that we have, I like the people that we have. Obviously, it is never ideal when you are having to move people around all the time, do not get me wrong, but nobody cares. Nobody feels bad for you, so you have to find a way to make it work.”
When Mayfield first arrived in Tampa Bay in the wake of Tom Brady’s retirement in 2023, he was on a one-year deal with a base salary of $4 million — where he had to prove himself.
The move was about being surrounded with a talented supporting cast, where he wouldn’t have to be the hero. But he has led his team to the postseason and smashed personal-best records in each of the past two years — including throwing 41 touchdowns last season. He earned a new three-year, $100 million contract extension in 2024 and was rewarded with an additional $30 million guaranteed for 2026 in July.
Now, for a third straight year, Mayfield has found a way to once again elevate his game. And if anything, that scramble in Week 6 showed a key point of emphasis he has tried to drive home to his squad: “You don’t have to have the perfect play when all your guys are fighting for each other and are on the same page.”
“I mean, everybody knows that Baker’s playing at an unbelievable level right now,” Kameron Johnson said. “So, I mean, it don’t matter who’s out there. Any given Sunday, whenever Baker Mayfield is out there, there’s a chance to win. And he’s playing at an unbelievable MVP level right now.”
When training camp first started, Tez Johnson, a seventh-round draft pick out of Oregon, said he felt like “bullets were flying.” The competition was intense, and the group was quite easily the deepest position group out on the field.
Mayfield pulled him aside and said, “Just settle down. It’ll come to you,” Johnson recalled.
Mayfield then invited him to watch film together at 5 a.m.
“He was already here at 4:30,” Johnson said. “He just gave me advice on how the league works and how I should think on certain routes and that allowed me to know, ‘All right, he believes in me, so I’m going to do my best of my ability to go out there and perform for him.'”
Two plays after Mayfield’s scramble, Johnson was supposed to go across the field on second-and-11 from the San Francisco 45-yard line, but when he saw a void in the defense, he instead waved his arm to get Mayfield’s attention and turned it into a go route.
Mayfield saw it and heaved it deep while Johnson raced to the end zone — where he punctuated the score with a tumbling celebration.
“A good adjustment on his part,” Mayfield said. “Safety’s waiting on the other side for him, so he just takes it up the middle. It’s not necessarily a busted coverage, they had it covered well if you run the drawings on the paper, but Tez making an adjustment on the fly — that’s huge for a rookie to be able to do, and do it confidently in the midst of the game like that, especially in that moment.”
Mayfield said that’s part of what leadership means to him.
“You’ve got to know your job, and do it well, but also empowering the guys to feel like they can go above and beyond,” Mayfield said. “And that’s a huge thing of leadership, instilling confidence. And it’s not a false confidence though. It’s making sure they really have it down, and then at that point, they realize it and then they take it on their own. So those guys have done a good job and now we just trust them.”
Kameron Johnson was a 2024 undrafted free agent and missed significant practice time this summer because of injuries, but he found his way onto the roster after showing something as a punt and kick returner in his lone preseason game.
When his number was called, he turned his first target of the season into a 34-yard touchdown.
“I’m this wide-open? I was just in shock,” said Johnson, who had four catches for 64 yards. “I saw the safety press down on [tight end Cade Otton]. I thought he was going to bump off then. Lo and behold, he never bumped off, and I was just running and I was like, ‘Oh Lord, let me see if Baker just makes eye contact with me.’ It was just wide-open. It was a walk-in, easy touchdown.”
Wide receivers coach Bryan McLendon said regardless of whom Mayfield is targeting, their success is a function of him holding everyone to the same standard he holds himself to.
“That is what has been a really good thing right now — that shows the person that he is, the player that he is, the leader that he is, the franchise guy that he is, I could go on-and-on-and-on with what he means to us,” McLendon said. “The biggest thing is just the confidence that he shows, and everybody out there on the field with him [are like], ‘Hey, you do your job, I am going to do mine and let’s go out there and see what happens.'”
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Josh Weinfuss
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Jordan Reid
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Jordan Reid
NFL draft analyst
- Jordan Reid is an NFL draft analyst for ESPN, providing in-depth scouting on the nation’s top pro prospects. Jordan joined ESPN in 2021 and also contributes to SportsCenter and ESPN Radio. He played quarterback at North Carolina Central University and then went on to coach there from 2014-18.
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Ben Solak
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Ben Solak
ESPN
- Ben Solak joined ESPN in 2024 as a national NFL analyst. He previously covered the NFL at The Ringer, Bleeding Green Nation and The Draft Network.
Multiple Authors
TEMPE, Ariz. — After being without a head coach for almost a month, the Arizona Cardinals finally have their choice.
Arizona announced the hiring of 38-year-old Mike LaFleur on Sunday, ending a search that looked similar to previous ones by the Cardinals. As they were in 2023 when they hired Jonathan Gannon, they were once again the last team to make a hire after nine other head coaching vacancies were filled. And for the sixth time in the past 19 years, they hired a first-time NFL coach.
They also kept their pattern of alternating between offensive- and defensive-minded head coaches. LaFleur spent the past five seasons as an offensive coordinator, two with the New York Jets and three with the Los Angeles Rams. Gannon was a defensive-minded coach. He was preceded by Kliff Kingsbury, an offensive coach, who was preceded by Steve Wilks, a defensive coach, who was preceded by Bruce Arians, an offensive coach.
Arizona signed LaFleur to a five-year contract as he sets out to bring Arizona back to the playoffs for the first time since 2021.
Cardinals reporter Josh Weinfuss and NFL draft analyst Jordan Reid break down what the hire could mean for quarterback Kyler Murray and for the Cardinals’ upcoming draft. And NFL analyst Ben Solak provides a grade.
Why Mike LaFleur?
Weinfuss: LaFleur is highly regarded around the league for his offensive acumen. And he represents a branch of the Sean McVay tree, which carries a great deal of cache.
LaFleur is the fourth McVay OC to become a head coach, joining Mike’s brother Matt LaFleur of the Green Bay Packers, Kevin O’Connell of the Minnesota Vikings and Liam Coen of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The three others led their teams to the playoffs.
LaFleur runs a West Coast style of offense, which would be Murray’s third different offensive style in his eight NFL seasons — should he still be around come OTAs.
Did the Cards wait too long and miss out on the top choices?
Weinfuss: It’s hard to argue that they didn’t, but general manager Monti Ossenfort said during his postseason news conference that Arizona was going to take its time.
It might not have been a matter of waiting too long and missing out on their top choices for the Cardinals, as opposed to not being as attractive of a destination as other teams. That’s mainly because of uncertainty at quarterback, facilities that have consistently received low grades in the annual NFLPA report cards and an owner in Michael Bidwell who has been famously frugal.
Where waiting this long to hire a head coach can and, likely, will hurt the Cardinals will be in hiring a staff. With LaFleur being the last coach hired this cycle, his pool of assistants to hire has been shrinking by the day.
What does this mean for Murray’s future with the Cardinals?
Weinfuss: That’s still to be determined. Murray’s contract situation is well known: He’s under contract until 2028 and has already been guaranteed $39.8 million for 2026, so there are two possibilities for Murray: Let LaFleur pick his guy, which, as an offensive-minded head coach, may be the smartest move, or Bidwell will require Murray to stay on the roster because of all the money he’s paid him for this coming season.
LaFleur hasn’t always been dealt the easiest of hands with quarterbacks. In San Francisco, he had C.J. Beathard, Nick Mullens, Jimmy Garoppolo and Brian Hoyer, and in New York he had Zach Wilson. Murray is a step above them talent wise, but LaFleur, who had a front-row seat for Matthew Stafford in Los Angeles the last three seasons, also has worked with an elite QB.
How can LaFleur boost his roster at No. 3 overall in the draft — and will the pick come on offense?
Reid: This roster needs help in multiple spots, so the Cardinals could go in a few different directions — and focus on either side of the ball.
Right tackle is one clear hole on the roster, and either Spencer Fano (Utah) or Francis Mauigoa (Miami) would make a lot of sense. Fano has great movement traits, while Mauigoa is a physical mauler.
But the Cardinals might instead look to add an edge rusher opposite Josh Sweat. Keep an eye on the powerful Rueben Bain Jr. (Miami) and explosive David Bailey (Texas Tech). They both know how to get after the QB; both players had 71 pressures in 2025, tied for second most in the FBS.
How would you grade this hire?
Solak: B-. The Cardinals — the last team to fill its head coaching vacancy — clearly did not get their preferred candidate, as they announced the hiring of LaFleur only minutes after it was reported that Klint Kubiak was taking the Raiders job.
LaFleur is a chip off the old Kyle Shanahan block, having spent time as the 49ers’ passing game coordinator under him before taking the offensive coordinator job with Robert Saleh and the Jets. LaFleur never got the plane off the ground with Zach Wilson in New York, and will now be in charge of another young quarterback’s developmental arc, assuming Arizona moves off Kyler Murray and onto a new signal-caller.
There’s a solid ceiling here, as LaFleur is from a prolific coaching tree. But it’s hard to get too excited about what feels like a very run-of-the-mill hire.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Sunday expressed hope that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) would work towards a “mutually acceptable resolution” after the government denied permission to the national side for a match against India in T20 World Cup 2026.
In a statement, the cricket governing body noted the government’s statement, in which it said that Pakistan would play the tournament but skip their game against India.
“While the ICC awaits official communication from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), this position of selective participation is difficult to reconcile with the fundamental premise of a global sporting event where all qualified teams are expected to compete on equal terms per the event schedule,” the ICC said.
The cricket-governing body added that such “selective participation undermines the spirit and sanctity of the competitions” built on sporting integrity, competitiveness, consistency and fairness.
The ICC said that it respected the roles of governments in matters of national policy, however, it added that the decision was not “in the interest of the global game or the welfare of fans worldwide, including millions in Pakistan”.
“The ICC hopes that the PCB will consider the significant and long-term implications for cricket in its own country as this is likely to impact the global cricket ecosystem, which it is itself a member and beneficiary of,” the ICC stated.
The cricket-governing body asserted that its priority remained the successful delivery of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, saying it should also be the responsibility of all its members including the PCB.
The statement follows Pakistan’s announcement that its team would participate in the tournament but would boycott the match against arch-rival India.
The decision came following a meeting between PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
“The Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan grants approval to the Pakistan Cricket Team to participate in the ICC World T20 2026,” the government said in a post on X.
“…however, the Pakistan Cricket Team shall not take the field in the match scheduled on 15th February 2026 against India.”
Kansas shooting guard Darryn Peterson and BYU forward AJ Dybantsa loom as the projected top two picks in the upcoming NBA draft. They are the precocious cream of what projects to be one of the best NBA drafts — particularly in the top 10 — in the past generation.
Who will be No. 1? ESPN polled 20 NBA scouts and executives to get an early vibe, and the results indicate that there will be a rigorous debate right up to June’s draft.
Peterson received 12 votes and Dybantsa eight for the top spot. With No. 13 BYU visiting No. 14 Kansas on Saturday (4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), it will mark the first collegiate matchup between the two stars.
“It’s Darryn Peterson for me,” a veteran scout told ESPN. “He makes things look so effortless, it’s unbelievable. His shotmaking is unmatched. He’s the closest thing to Kobe Bryant I’ve seen since Kobe in terms of shotmaking and ability to create his own shot. He’s not the same athlete as Kobe, but no one is. He’s really special.”
Few of the scouts and executives polled indicated the choice was easy.
“It’s so close,” a veteran NBA executive told ESPN. “I’m saying 51% to 49%, just barely. I just feel like there’s a little bit more potential with AJ Dybantsa as a player who makes others better. But if you call me on March 1, I could tell you that I changed my mind.”
The NBA is descending on Lawrence, Kansas, this weekend for some additional empirical evidence.
At least 32 NBA front office personnel from 17 teams are attending the game, with seven general managers/decision-makers expected to be among them. (Also slated to attend is Atlanta Hawks owner Tony Ressler.)
Some teams are sending multiple scouts and executives, including a majority of the front office staffs of both the Hawks (five attendees) and Indiana Pacers (six attendees). Both the Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards are sending three reps.
Multiple NBA sources told ESPN that they are eager to see how Peterson looks after missing a game against Kansas State last Saturday with an ankle sprain. Kansas coach Bill Self has said he anticipates Peterson to play, and the injury has not been considered long term.
Peterson missed nine games over two separate stretches earlier in the season with a hamstring issue. With the ankle injury costing him a game, it means that he has missed half of Kansas’ games this season. He has also been managing a cramping issue.
“I don’t like the drama of playing and not playing,” said one scout, who chose Peterson as his No. 1 pick. “But he’s a scoring menace. He’s just a killer offensively.”
Dybantsa is listed at 6-foot-9 and 210 pounds. Peterson is 6-foot-6 and 205 pounds. It’s uncertain if they will often match up directly with each other on the floor Saturday, but they will certainly be compared and debated in the upcoming months.
The core of the debate comes to Peterson’s rare offensive upside against Dybantsa having more athleticism and two-way upside. Multiple scouts and executives mentioned having both Duke‘s Cam Boozer and North Carolina‘s Caleb Wilson in the conversation about the top pick, but none picked those players as their preference for No. 1.
One scout summed up his Dybantsa pick this way: “He’s the only one who has a chance to be elite on both ends.”
Another said about Peterson: “I think he can be a championship-level shot creator in the NBA.”
Peterson is averaging 21.6 points per game in 27.2 minutes. He is also averaging 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists and shooting an impressive 42% from 3-point range.
Dybantsa is scoring 23.6 points per game, snags 6.7 rebounds and dishes 3.6 assists. He has played in all 20 of BYU’s games and is shooting 31.8% from 3-point range.
No one is debating the talent at the top of this draft, as college basketball is having a freshman renaissance this season. This draft is both elite at the top and deep, with freshman stars such as Houston‘s Kingston Flemings, Louisville‘s Mikel Brown Jr., Tennessee‘s Nate Ament, Arkansas‘ Darius Acuff Jr., Arizona‘s Koa Peat, UConn‘s Braylon Mullins, Houston’s Chris Cenac Jr. and Illinois‘ Keaton Wagler giving the sport an adrenaline shot of young talent.
“It is extra deep with high-end talent,” said a veteran scout. “This draft will hold up historically as one of the better ones in the last 20 years.”
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